News & Stories

ACA summary video is now ready Thanks to all delegates who attended the 2019 Annual Conference Assembly last week! A new summary video about the 2019 ACA is now ready. You can find it at https://youtu.be/UUin9aM0oTs. Please share it with members of your congregation. Photos of ACA and missional conference are on website Photos of ACA and the missional…

Participants in the 2019 Missional Conference received a copy of the book Missional. Monastic. Mainline. by Elaine A. Heath and Larry Duggins. The Ohio Conference has several extra copies available for $18 each, including shipping. If you would like a copy, please contact Judy King at ohmc@zoominternet.net or 330-857-5421.

Tedrow Mennonite Church will celebrate its 70th anniversary on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Worship will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a noon potluck meal to follow. Help us tell the story! Please send photos, memories and testimonies of how Tedrow Mennonite Church has impacted your life to doug@tedrowmennonite.org.

The Mennonite Inc. invites your original submissions for the May 2019 print magazine issue and corresponding online content focusing on the theme “God So Loved the Whole World.” Submissions are due to Editor@TheMennonite.org no later than April 4. For more details, please see http://bit.ly/TheMennoniteMay2019.

BLUFFTON, Ohio — John E. Sharp will present “Changing the World One Life at a Time: The MJ Sharp Story” at 11 a.m. on March 26 in Yoder Recital Hall at Bluffton University. Sharp will reflect on the life of his son MJ Sharp who died in his prime as a peacebuilder in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On March…

Berlin Mennonite Church will host a Healthy Congregations Workshop April 4-5. Workshop participants will learn how they can influence the health of their congregations, and how to detect and avoid unhealthy patterns of living together in community. Time is running out to receive the best registration price for this workshop. The registration fee includes a course manual and lunch. The…

For the third month in a row, giving to the Ohio Conference outpaced expenses. According to figures provided by Financial Coordinator Stan Helmuth, total receipts for the month were $37,455, including $37,082 in congregational giving. Expenses totaled just $26,367, resulting in an operating surplus of $11,088 for the month. That surplus boosted the year-to-date operating balance to $32,783. Thank you…

In this episode of Ohio Conference Cast, hosts Bill Seymour and Thomas Dunn take a break from podcasting. Instead, the podcast’s number one fan, Lucas Johnson of Valley View Mennonite Church in Spartansburg, Pa., takes a look back at the 2019 Missional Conference and Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) with three other ACA participants: Kevin Himes, pastor of Salem Mennonite Church…

Here is the slate of nominees for Conference positions Next week at Annual Conference Assembly, delegates will be asked to affirm a slate of nominees for a variety of Conference positions. This slate is compiled by the Ohio Conference Gifts Discernment Ministry. 2019 ACA Slate New delegate orientation set for 1 p.m. Friday All new delegates to Annual Conference Assembly…

Goshen College is providing daily online devotions during Lent focusing on the theme “Blessed Hunger, Holy Feast.” You can sign up to receive these devotions via email: https://www.goshen.edu/devotions.

The Gathering Place, a virtual space where Anabaptist faith formation leaders can gather, learn, share and grow, is getting a new start with new resources and several upcoming webinars for Mennonite Church USA faith formation leaders. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2019GatheringPlace.

Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) is offering several Alumni and Friends Cross-Cultural Tours. These trips promise to be life-changing in many ways and are open to alumni, former and current parents of EMU students, and friends of EMU. You won’t find this kind of trip with your typical travel agent. Trip destinations include Cuba, Israel and Palestine, and South Africa, among…

Love is the greatest of all virtues. But what does love look like in times of cynicism and polarization? Mennonite Men is organizing “Love Crosses Borders,” an immersion experience with immigrants which will take place this summer. From July 28 to August 3 Mennonite Men will journey to Georgia and connect with Casa Alterna, a hospitality house devoted to faithful…

Berlin Mennonite Church will host a Healthy Congregations Workshop April 5-6. Bill Blank, associate director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, will lead the workshop. This workshop is designed for pastors, church staff, lay leaders and congregation members. Participants will learn how they can influence the health of their congregations, and how to detect and avoid unhealthy patterns of living…

Sentralized, a missional conference featuring several of the speakers that Ohio Conference has hosted recently, such as Alan and Deb Hirsch, along with many others, is coming this spring to Middletown, Ohio (between Dayton and Cincinnati). This event will take place Thursday, May 9, though Saturday, May 11. Most of the teaching and discussion time will occur Thursday and Friday.…

On Feb. 12, 27 credentialed ministers from across Ohio Conference gathered together at the Upper Sandusky Public Library once again for relationship building and discussion about the possibility of creating a covenant of the Conference’s core beliefs/values and practices. The meeting was a follow-up to their meeting on Nov. 8, 2018. It was a good day of fellowship, discussion and…

ACA registration price increases after Feb. 15 We are looking forward to seeing you at the 2019 Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) on March 8-9 at Salem Mennonite Church in Kidron. Thanks to all who have already registered! The registration deadline for ACA is Feb. 15. The cost to register is $45 by Feb. 15, and $60 thereafter. There is an…

The Mennonite Inc. invites your original submissions for the April 2019 print magazine issue and corresponding online content focusing on the theme “Just Relationships.” Submissions are due to Editor@TheMennonite.org no later than March 1. For more details, please see http://bit.ly/TheMennoniteApril2019.

(Mennonite Church USA) — Get ready for a holy feast. The Lent At Home resource based on the theme “Blessed Hunger…Holy Feast” is available now with materials for exploring God’s abundance and the season’s themes. The materials begin with Shrove Tuesday on March 5 and continue through Easter Sunday on April 21. The theme and Scriptures in the Lent At Home materials…

Mennonite Mission Network will hold its Sent Conference 2019 on April 26-28 in Denver, Colorado. The theme for this year is “Beautiful Feet: Hearing Christ’s call to proclaim the good news.” This event will be hosted by Beloved Community Mennonite Church and Mountain States Mennonite Conference. The Sent conference is an event that Mennonite Mission Network organizes every year to…

Mennonite Church USA has recently posted three presentations on YouTube addressing the denomination’s leadership, structure and polity. These presentations are from the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) meeting which took place on Oct. 11-13, 2018, in Chicago. The three presenters are Michael Danner, associate executive director for church vitality and engagement; David Boshart, moderator; and Joy Sutter, moderator-elect. Use the links below…

Giving to the Ohio Conference was strong for the second month in a row during January, resulting in a positive operating balance for the first time during this fiscal year. According to figures supplied by Financial Coordinator Stan Helmuth, receipts for the month totaled $54,545, including $42,925 from congregations and $11,573 from individuals. That total for the month was somewhat…

The deadline to register for Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) is approaching quickly. Have you registered yet? ACA will take place March 8-9 at Salem Mennonite Church in Kidron, and the 2019 Missional Conference will take place immediately prior to ACA on March 7-8, also at Salem Mennonite. Registrations for ACA and the 2019 Missional Conference are both due Feb. 15.…

Save the date: The 2019 Everence Development Conference will take place Oct. 8-10, 2019, at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This conference is a biennial event designed to equip fundraisers, development professionals, leaders and board members with the tools they need to fund and care for their organization’s mission and vision.

Ted & Co. TheaterWorks will be performing at South Union Mennonite Church on March 30 at 7 p.m. The show, The Jesus Stories: Faith, Folks and Fettuccine, written by Ted Swartz and starring Ted and Jeff Raught, will be interspersed with a themed auction of baked goods. The show is free, but the money raised from the auction will be…

Due to the weather forecast, the cluster meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Central Mennonite has been postponed until Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 6:30 p.m. The location will be the same. Please spread the word!

Are you looking for Scripture-related art that you can use in your office, youth room or classroom? Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) offers a wide selection of Scripture graphics on its website which you can download for free: http://bit.ly/MMNScriptureGraphics. You can browse the entire collection or narrow your search by focusing on a specific book of the Bible. A sample graphic…

By Dick Barrett Conference Minister On Dec. 31 I completed my time as one of the pastors of Oak Grove Mennonite Church in West Liberty (four years as associate pastor and 12 years as lead pastor). There was much sadness and grief on my part in the ending. On Jan. 2 I began full-time as conference minister for the Ohio…

By Ben Parker Sutter and Annette Brill Bergstresser ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) — Dennis Miller of Goshen, Indiana, was in his late 50s when he realized it was time for him to explore other vocational possibilities. “I’ve been in construction my entire working life,” he said. “Working in the church is something I always thought about but at the same…